1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention of this disclosure is a seamless tapered fabric sleeve. It particularly finds use as a form fitted sleeve over the arm of a space suit and the like where the arm is subject to tapering and may also bend, flex or articulate. The arm is protected by the sleeve which is fitted over it and to this end, the surrounding sleeve is ideally constructed so that it contours snugly around the structure. Moreover, the sleeve can be custom sized so that the diameter at one end can be first identified, the diameter of the opposite can be the same or different, and the length of the sleeve between the two ends can be varied. So to speak, the sleeve is a shaped trapezoid when viewed from the side in a flattened state. It is preferably made of a strong material such as polyester and is provided with a controllable degree of skrinkage. In the method of processing, the sleeve is first woven and thereafter placed on a conforming supportive mandrel for skrinkage to reduce the size of the sleeve. In this step, the material shrinks to yield the final sized, tapered sleeve. One mode of shrinkage is by placing the sleeve in an oven at elevated temperature; another mode of shrinkage includes wetting with methylene chloride at room temperature to chemically shrink the sleeve on the mandrel. In this state, it is a seamless, woven element brought down to a particular size and is able to slide over an arm or other mechanism to provide protection to it.
2. Background Art
Representative U.S. Patents thought to have a bearing on the present disclosure include U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,464 which discloses a space suit having joints therein. It appears to incorporate a fiber membrane of aramid fibers with a laminate of neoprene. U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,030 at Columns 1 and 2 is directed to a method of weaving. U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,762 discloses heat shrinking of TFE tubing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,656 discloses a woven fabric with heat shrinking of selected fibers while U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,157 shows heat skrinking of a woven tubular fabric. In addition to these, U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,212 shows fabric woven on a mandrel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,684 is directed to a woven tubular fabric coated with plastics or synthetic rubbers. Last of all, U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,822 shows a resin impregnated, woven fabric in the composite or layered structure. It would appear that none of the art discussed above teaches the described structure or the method of manufacture thereof.